Dates: 12-20 November 2023.

Cymru drawing Armenia in Euro 2024 qualifying was great as I’d been looking to visit the country for a while, plus it gave me the opportunity to “complete” the Caucasus.

The route to Yerevan was fairly straightforward: Heathrow via Frankfurt, which allowed for a light snack and a weissbier:

There was some amusement at passport control in Yerevan airport. We knew we’d be asked questions anyway, but add the fact we had Azerbaijan stamps in out passports and we were expecting a grilling. I got away with the usual why are you here, where are you staying, and why were you in Azerbaijan. Mike got all this plus he got asked for his phone number…

With a local arrival time of around 04.00, we kipped for a bit but then got up and out early enough to catch a healthy brunch at a quiet café near our apartment called Andrew:

Mike was keen to try some Armenian on the waitress and I think we nailed it, going off the waitress’ broad smile in reply. Either that or our accents were laughable… After an Armenian coffee and a flat white we headed to Republic Square to begin our sightseeing.

The Flower Fountain

We quickly learned that to conserve water the local authorities halt all water features during the winter. It became a running gag throughout our stay…

We walked though the sizable Vernissage outdoor market that leads to the not-entirely-correctly-named Circular Park.

Vernissage with the National Gallery of Armenia in the distance on Republic Square (and no water in the fountain in the foreground):

The Circular Park runs in a crescent shape on the east side of the city, connecting just south of Republic Square with the base of the Cascade Complex in the north.

Lovely Soviet architecture:

The casual walk from south of Circular Park to the north took around an hour, but we did grab a coffee and pastry en route.

Around Circular Park:

The Cascade Complex is a cascading series of stairs, landscaped gardens, fountains and sculptures, and on a good day, affords a view of Mount Ararat from the summit.

Base camp:

Off we go:

The arts centre half way up:

At the top – you can just about make-out Mount Ararat (which is actually in neighbouring Türkiye) on the right-hand side of the shot:

The top of the Cascade isn’t really the highest point though, as there is a path around what appeared to be an abandoned building site up to the Memorial to the 50th Anniversary of October Revolution and Victory Park.

Mount Ararat in the distance:

Here’s a short video of the view.

The Memorial to the 50th Anniversary of October Revolution was built in 1967 and is dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Soviet Union in Armenia:

After all that walking we were thirsty and managed to find a funky bar called Hot Pub nearby:

As we descended the Cascade we managed to catch a beautiful sunset:

Arty:

Back to Republic Square to see it lit up, but of course the Singing Fountain was waterless:

Mike found us a great place to eat some grilled meat and sample some Armenian red wine at a restaurant called Lavash (after the flat bread), but the fanfare was all about the very long and flaky pastry dessert that they insist on dividing-up before people’s main meals arrived.

Nice, but perhaps a tad hyperbolic:

We finished the evening with a couple of flights of beer at the very crafty Dargett:

The following day we decided to head further afield, but first swung by Charles Aznavour Square (which contained the only fountain with actual water, probably because of the Moscow Cinema right next to it) and the Blue Mosque:

Next up was a leisurely stroll through several parks south-west of Republic Square:

Children’s Park has some fun statues:

The first of two stadiums we wanted to visit was the somewhat abandoned Spartak Stadium:

Gotta love Soviet apartment blocks:

We resolved to rack-up even more steps as we ascended the hill up to and above Hrazdan Stadium.

Looking east into Yerevan over the Hrazdan River. Some of the hotels and apartment buildings looked like they may fall into the gorge the river had carved below:

There it is, the former home of the Armenian national team, Hrazdan Stadium:

The stadium is no longer used for football but there were the odd person or two strolling or jogging around the perimeter. Here’s a short video from inside.

The vibrancy of the seat colour really stood out below the overcast and threatening sky:

Possibly the score of the opening game? Love those old-style scoreboards:

We continued climbing our way towards the Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex and stumbled upon a lovely memorial dedicated to Ararat Yerevan, who won the USSR cup twice in ’73 and ’75:

An elderly gentleman approached us and began talking to us in either Russian or Armenian, presumably explaining what the memorial was for. He seemed pleased we’d visited and we guessed he was some type of caretaker and he fussed around the flowers and plants dotted around.

Bizarrely, as we reached the steepest part of our climb we came across a makeshift car and motorcycle test centre, with a few learners practicing manoeuvres. And an abandoned bus.

“No water can wash the blood off Putin’s hands”:

Tsitsernakaberd Armenian Genocide Memorial Complex:

The complex is dedicated to the memory of the 1.5 million Armenians who perished at the hands of the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Eerily, sombre music is piped through from below the eternal flame.

The view back down to Hrazdan Stadium and Pyunik Stadium, the training facilities of Pyunik Yerevan:

Before getting a taxi back to the city centre we wandered past the Karen Demirtchian Sport/Concert Complex:

We opted for grilled meat for food. Shock. It was another great choice which was full of locals, and live entertainment. Marvellous:

Day three was dedicated to a day trip out to Khor Virap Monastery, Azat Reseviour, Garni Temple and Geghard Monastery. On a good day, you can see into Türkiye and Mount Ararat from around Khor Virap Monastery. Today wasn’t that sort of day, sadly.

Nope, can’t see anything:

The fairy tail Khor Virap Monastery with Türkiye and Iran in the far distance:

There was an oubliette in the monastery grounds, which was fun:

After a quick call of nature behind a shed because the toilets were out of order, we were back on the tour bus to head to Azat Reservoir. Most of the scenery outside of Yerevan put me in mind of the similarly luna-esque landscape in the areas outside of Baku in Azerbaijan. I kept this thought to myself though…

Azat Reservoir:

The photos don’t do justice to the enormity of the scene, unfortunately. I managed to catch some interesting lighting though:

Last on the list before food was Garni Temple, which apparently dates back to the first century AD:

At this point we were really looking forward to the buffet meal at Abelyan’s House on the outskirts of Garni, where they make their own lavash and have their own orchard.

But first, a lavash making demo:

The meal was excellent, with plenty of tasty vegetables and stacks of cheese. I opted for the fish and Mike the chicken. The wine was questionable but drinkable, and the fruit was of course delicious.

The final stop on the tour was Geghard Monastery, tucked away, seemingly, at the end of the world.

It was undergoing extensive repairs:

Inside:

Armenia loves its cross stones, slabs of stone with intricate carvings that represent the crucifixion:

There was some light entertainment near the end as the group of young Bulgarian lads on the tour asked our guide if she could arrange for them to meet the resident priest. From what we could make out, there is a saying in Bulgaria that involves meeting an Armenian priest. The priest appeared bemused initially but sportingly agreed to several photographs!

After returning to Yerevan we sampled several excellent beers at the Beatles Bar, which thankfully was full of Beatles memorabilia as opposed to only playing Beatles songs. We also sampled some five, seven and ten year old Ararat brandy. Each one better than the last.

Mike had a great idea for the following day: rather than sign up to another guided tour, we rent a car and see places at our own pace. First up in our Renault Duster was to re-visit Khor Virap to see if we could get a better look at Mount Ararat. We couldn’t! Not an issue though as we would soon realise on our journey to Lake Sevan…

Beautiful, but you had to be there:

There weren’t too many cars on the road for long periods as we drove from remote village to remote village. I spotted on the map that there was a tiny bit of sovereign Azerbaijani territory that we were going to be driving past, so we opted to take a small detour to investigate.

Karki (or Tigranashen in Armenian) is a village that is de jure an enclave of Azerbaijan but de facto under the control of Armenia:

There was no fanfare or obvious signage that we were leaving one country and entering another. We stopped and took in the views though:

As we approached the southern end of Lake Sevan we were held up by real life cowboys:

We arrived at the 9th century Sevanavank monastery on the north-eastern tip of the lake as the sun was setting. The place gave-off out-of-season seaside resort vibes, with restaurants closed and stalls looking sad and unloved. We avoided an unofficial parking attendant and climbed to the top of the hill for some great, but very cold, views:

That evening we were to check into the apartment Hales had organised, and after some deft negotiation of Yerevan office hours traffic, we opted to keep the hire car for an additional day and park it at our previous accommodation.

Mike had done some research and reckoned it would be fun to investigate Gravity Hill and the Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station from where we may be able to see Mount Aragats, the biggest mountain in Armenia.

The research station and Lake Qarilich are 3200 metres above sea level, so as we climbed higher we started to hit snow and ice and was glad the Duster was four-wheel drive! The scenery was breath-taking…

Gravity Hill, where things appear to roll uphill:

The road above appears to be going downhill apparently because the horizon is not viewable. When we took the car out of gear and took the handbrake off, it rolled backwards not forwards, therefore appearing to roll uphill! Same thing happened with a water bottle.

We tried to capture the phenomenon in this video.

There were plenty of fun rally-type roads including hairpin bends on our route:

The last half a mile or so was quite precarious but Mike got the Duster to the top without any issues, though we did then almost get stuck in the snow when attempting to park!

Lake Qarilich:

The wind made it bitingly cold, but it was worth in for the clean air and peaceful surroundings.

The seemingly abandoned Aragats Cosmic Ray Research Station:

We had to climb up this viewing platform, naturally:

We loved the feeling of remoteness, being alone up at 3200 metres:

Unfortunately, we couldn’t see Mount Aragats, or at least couldn’t be sure if what we were seeing was part of the mountain range.

The view back down to civilisation:

The view up to the research centre:

A short video of the drive down from 3200 metres. We could have taken hundreds of photos like this:

The 7th century Amberd fortress on our route back to Yerevan (negative-sounding grunts from the security guards led us to believe we could get no closer):

As we got closer to Yerevan, our old favourite, Mount Ararat, came into view:

That evening we found the charming but precariously-placed 13:20 Bar, amongst some “rustic” buildings. It’s in there somewhere:

Here’s a short video to illustrate the point.

The 18th was match day so after a lie-in we got out for some food and drinks. It was a leisurely 25 minute walk to the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium so we stopped-off at a dirt-cheap pub five minutes from the ground.

The Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium:

Unfortunately, we failed to capitalise on the stunning 2-1 win over Croatia the previous month. We conceded early and the lads did well to get an equaliser before half time to keep the spirits in the away end up. The second half performance was poor though and it ended 1-1, which effectively meant missing out on a top-two finish in the group.

We re-visited the 13:20 Bar and rapidly completed the five stages of grief as we embarked on a mission to try as many weird flavoured “brandies” as possible. Considering our fragile emotional state it was probably unwise to try the green-colour oestrogen brandy…

Acceptance:

Thankfully, unlike the previous night, there was no need to attempt drunken bank transfers or borrow cash from Alun, their card machine was working!

Our final day in Yerevan was fairly chilled. The rest of the gang hired a car to see Khor Virap etc., while Mike and I headed up the Cascade and got a milkshake on a rooftop terrace before wandering around Victory Park, home to an amusement park and the Mother Armenia Monument.

Around Victory Park:

On the walk back we spotted a red squirrel facing-off against a crow for a some form of nut. We weren’t the only ones who’d spotted the victorious squirrel:

The very patient car drew a decent crowd as it stalked the squirrel for a few minutes. The squirrel was too smart though and escaped with its booty.

Alun, Mike and I ended a great week in the only way we knew how. Grilled meat:

In the airport we got some ten year old Ararat brandy for Dad and ourselves, and I bought a dry pomegranate wine which I sampled whilst writing these last couple of paragraphs. It’s, err, different…

Mike summarised Yerevan and the trip quite well. He said: “if we’d gotten the win, this trip may have overtaken Tbilisi as my favourite (non-major tournament) #WalesAway”. High praise indeed, and Armenia certainly knocks it out of the park when it comes to grilled meat!

Yerevan the city was rammed with cars and noise, but still managed to charm. I can imagine the city is great to look at in the summer with the water turned on and the locals filling the outdoor bars and green spaces.

Needless to say, you have to leave the city to see real beauty, and to see how the rest of the country lives. Whisper it quietly, but Armenia and Azerbaijan are very similar in this regard.